John Jay Elliot, of Holyoke, and Bernice Kwade, of Chicopee, participated in the dual-enrollment program the school offered this year that lets students attend regular classes along with college-level classes at Holyoke Community College (HCC), officials said this week.

“We are a school that prepares our students for success in college, and the best way to do that is to have them go to college as soon as possible," Principal Ljuba Marsh said in a press release.

The charter school, which opened in September 2013, currently has 145 students and only two grades, grades nine and 10. The plan is to add 11th-graders next year, said Michael Jacobson-Hardy, technology coordinator and teacher, said in an email.

"All of our students plan to go to college," Jacobson-Hardy said.

The plan is for 13 students from the charter school to attend dual enrollment at HCC next year, Marsh said.

Charter schools are public schools but they are also independent. Supporters said this makes them effective because charter schools face being shut down for failing to meet standards and because they often are free of the bureaucracy that can stifle public schools. Foes said charter schools weaken the system by siphoning limited dollars from public schools.